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A new direct discharge source of 13.5nm radiation addresses the heat load problem by creating the plasma remote from all surfaces. The plasma is initially formed at the intersection of many pulsed xenon beamlets. Further heating is then applied via a high current pulse to induce efficient radiation from Xe10+ ions. The plasma is compact, with a single pulse FWHM diameter of 0.7mm and length of 3mm. It is positionally stable, as illustrated by re-imaging onto a fluorescent screen sensitive to EUV and time-integrating over 250 pulses. In this mode the averaged FWHM is 0.9mm. The conversion efficiency from stored electrical energy to radiation within 2π sterad and 2% bandwidth at 13.5nm is currently 0.55%, using xenon. Power is delivered to the plasma by a solid state-switched modulator operated at a stored energy of 25J of which 10J is dissipated in the plasma plus circuit, and 15J is recovered. The EUV output in 2% bandwidth at 13.5nm is 9mJ/sterad. Repetition rate scaling of the star pinch EUV source to 1kHz there is negligible electrode erosion at 106 pulses. This is possible because the cathode for the main heating discharge is distributed into 24-fold parallel hollow cathodes, with a combined operational surface aera of approximately 20cm2. The anode is similarly distributed. The walls facing the plasma are 22mm distant from it and when scaled to 6kHz will see a heat load of less than 1kWcm-2. The cathode electrode is then expected to receive a heat load of less than 500W cm-2. The plasma is expected to clear between pulses and be reproducible at frequencies up to at least 10kHz, at which rate the usable EUV power available at a second focus, assuming colleciton in 2sterad, is predicted to be more than 80W. The star pinch has properties that favor long life and appears to scale to the 50-100W powers needed for high throughput lithography.
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